Twelve Hats For Lena

The Light of Ancient Mistakes is the splendid seventh album from the eclectic UK progressive band, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate. Following on from last year’s The Confidence Trick, it is another diverse collection of idiosyncratic and genre-defying musical styles, full of songs with thought-provoking lyrics, complemented by a variety of instrumentals, which seemingly link them together.
Although not a traditional concept album, many of the songs have been inspired by books. The centrepiece of the album is ‘Walking To Aldebaran’, inspired by the science fiction novella of the same name by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The tracks ‘Avrana Kern Is Made Of Ants’, ‘The Requisitioner and the Wonder’ and ‘Gothi and Gethli’ are references to a character, two spaceships and a pair of crow-like creatures…